I had won in the end, by the skin of my teeth. The victory bounced off me as Kade had given a dramatic groan and flopped backwards on his bed, “You got the hang of that so fast.”

“I got lucky in the last round.” I glanced out the window, noting the darkening sky. I’d told my mom beforehand I was hanging out with friends, so she wouldn’t spring another emergency call on me.

Wells followed my gaze, “It’s too late to grab something.”

“It’s only…” Kade trailed off as Wells looked at him. I couldn’t really tell what they were communicating to each other, only that there was an exchange going on, “Yeah, it’s getting dark. But we’re doing a snack run tomorrow.”

“I won’t skip out.” Wells had lost, although also only by a margin. For all the rounds we played, it could have ended with any one of us the winner. Had I’d not had my soul kicked out my body, I was sure I would have enjoyed it. Playing with Nia and Abigail was fun and they always indulged me, but playing with people so into winning was a different experience.

For the past few hours, I couldn’t put my finger on what had caused it. Kade seemed fine now, as far as I could tell. The hours of gaming had done him good. There wasn’t a trace of what I’d noticed earlier on his face. Whatever it had been.

“I’ll walk you home Cinder.” Wells looked at me, and I was surprised at the offer. Kade looked surprised too, his eyebrows raising and a protest on his lips.

“I can take her, she lives right down the street.”

Wells gave him a look, “I have to walk home anyway.”

There was a similar look in Kade’s eyes again. One I couldn’t understand. He only nodded at Wells, before turning to me. Even though he tried to mask it, it was still there. Hiding just underneath.

His smile was forced, “I’ll see you, then.”

“Kade…” Whatever was in my voice made Wells sigh and look ready to leave.

“I’ll be waiting outside.”

I watched as he headed off without another word. And I tried to find words for what I wanted to say to Kade. He watched me, whatever look he had before burning off. I couldn’t ask. I was too scared to. There were so many things I wanted to ask. But they were all lost to me. There were so many things that were wrong with this situation. All of the ways in which today had changed from happy to not. I wanted it to go back to being fine. The light atmosphere we’d had at the beginning of all of this.

But with Kade looking at me like that it was impossible to really go for it. All I could do was stand there, feeling my heart in my chest and the air in my lungs poisoning my bloodstream. Kade waited, ever patient. I was surprised there wasn’t a hint of annoyance on his face with how much time I’d wasted.

Even now, the strangeness hung in the air. Clouded everything around me. What was wrong Kade? That’s all I needed to ask. What was wrong and what had happened? Did I do something wrong I needed to know about? I didn’t want to know. I was always doing something wrong, and me not owning up to it was the reason I was weak. Jen was right. Fable was right. All the feelings from last week spilled into me. It was something I couldn’t escape. No matter how badly I wanted to.

He cleared his throat, “Whatever you want to say it’s ok.”

“Did I say something wrong earlier?” I rushed the words, knowing I wouldn’t say them otherwise.

“Earlier…?” He slowly shook his head. “Why?”

“I don’t know you seemed…different. When Wells was in the kitchen.” I couldn’t shake the feeling surrounding me again. Pressing in from all corners. Maybe I should have accepted Wells out.

Kade’s expression cracked, and he turned his head away, “Oh, that wasn’t you.”

“Then…what? If there’s anything I can do to help then…” I didn’t know what I was saying. It was like being lead on a thread. A puppet with its master. Even though I had been told I’d had free will this entire time, that my choices wouldn’t be affected, in this second, it was like I was being led on.

His expression muted, his hand once more touched the place where I’d bandaged him, “There’s no reason to worry about me. You shouldn’t keep Wells waiting.”

It was watching a curtain close. I couldn’t press it. I didn’t know how, “W-well. You don’t have to tell me. But know that today was fun. And I like you and Wells enough. Today was nice.”

Despite everything, I truly felt that way. He finally looked at me again, “Cinder?”

“Y-yeah?”

He paused. “Thanks for caring. Even though we don’t really know each other.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” I was just doing my job. Nothing more, nothing less. Even so, Kade’s smile was already lighter. Sad, I realized. In a way I couldn’t describe. For a reason I didn’t know.

“I’ll tell you why later, maybe. If you still want to hear it then.”

“Yeah. I know we’re strangers, so just let me know when you’re ready. I’m fine with listening.”

He walked me out after that. Wells sat on the steps to the door, and he squinted up at the two of us as the living room light flooded outside and made him flinch. We’d talked for a little bit, and I’m sure his eyes had adjusted to the settled darkness.

“Ready?”

“Sorry about the wait Wells.” I really did feel bad. He didn’t have a jacket and the outside air had gotten cold. The fall nights were kicking in.

He stood, “It’s fine. The cold hardly ever affects me.”

“Thanks for coming over. It was nice to hang out again.” Wells nodded without a response. As he walked down the walkway, I waved by to Kade. Hurrying after him, the light followed me down from the house. It wasn’t until we’d made it to the actual sidewalk that the door actually closed. Despite the time, Kade’s parents still weren’t home. They must work long shifts.

“Are you ok?”

Wells caught me off guard, “Me? I’m fine, just worried about Kade—”

I cut myself off, wondering if Kade even wanted me to talk about it. He’d been acting normal around Wells. I wondered if he’d noticed it.

His eyes flicked away, “There’s no reason to worry about him. He’ll be fine.”

I thought that was the most Wells has ever said at once, “Are you sure? He seemed…”

I still wasn’t sure what he seemed like. As we walked, Wells expression looked severe under the streetlight, “He gets like that sometimes. Caught in his head.”

“I feel like it was because I said something wrong.”

“No. Maybe.” Wells shrugged. “Either way, it probably wasn’t your fault.”

I couldn’t refute what he was saying. I didn’t think I’d done anything. All I’d done to piece it together had resulted in me empty handed. I really didn’t do anything. Did I? I furrowed my eyebrows, deeply lost in thought. Wells smacked me on the back, and I yelped.

“You’re a lot like him.” He stated, and I heard a note of exhaustion in his tone.

“You…you really think so?” I couldn’t see it. Maybe he and I were a little awkward and maybe we were more on the introverted scale. But he was so obviously boyish and the kind of girls never were. It was endearing to watch, and maybe because I was watching it was easy to notice the shift in his moods.

Wells shrugged again, “Based on what I’ve seen. It’s hard to say. I don’t know you well.”

“That’s true. I’m not the best at making friends. But being around you and Kade has been…nice.”

“Hmm.” He was staring at me again. I wondered what about me had caught his eye. All I’d been was awkward and in the way most of the time. At first, I thought his stares were due to annoyance, but I was starting to get the feeling that wasn’t the case. “I hope it stays that way.”

“I hope so too.” I motioned towards my house as we got there. “Well, this is my stop. Are you going to be alright walking home?”

“I live in the next neighborhood over. There’s no reason to worry.” He walked me up to the door. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you.” I waved goodbye and slipped inside. When I did, I saw my mom coming around the corner. She raised her eyebrows as she saw a glimpse of Wells before I managed to shut the door all the way.

“Oh? Was that a boy I saw just now?” Her grin lit up her entire face. “Who was the lucky guy?”

“A friend.” I protested immediately, not evening wanting to entertain the possibility. I didn’t need mom to sneak a look at Abigail and mention a boy, only for her to spill the beans on Kade and make my mom tease me even more. I could hear her already.

Something about me managing to charm all the boys, and whatever other nonsense she would start to go on about.

She chuckled, the mischievousness of it enough to make me want to run away, “Alright, alright. Welcome home. And I won’t tell your dad about this.”

Papi would find a way to murder them. They’d be six feet under by tomorrow morning. I swallowed, “Thanks. But really, he’s just a friend. He’s part of drama class. He was auditioning today with me.”

“Oh! How did that go?” I’d successfully avoided any further talk of Wells, and hopefully deflected her questions before she got it into her mind that Wells really wasn’t just a friend.

As the day wound down, my thoughts were a mess. I managed to drag myself back to my room and flopped on my bed after dinner. There was little energy left in me to get changed. My eyes were heavy, the world was still off kilter, and there was no strength in my body as though I’d been drained.

I needed to ask Fox about what had happened. I was sure it hadn’t been me.

Right?

//

Fox looked far more concerned than he had any right to, “You’re saying everything around you went…blue?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but that’s how it felt.” I couldn’t explain the exact experience I’d had. When I woke up, everything had been normal again. It made the end of the other day feel like a dream. If I wasn’t still in my uniform, I would have considered it so.

He blew a raspberry, a very dramatic sound far too loud considering we were minutes away from my ever cursed math exam. The kids around us last minute cramming threw glares his way. He ignored them. “Well, I didn’t expect you to be able to feel those kinds of things.”

“What kinds of things?”

I was getting more concerned by the second, and he immediately put on a smile, “Don’t look at me like that. Everything is going to be fine. It just means you’re a lot more sensitive to things than I thought before.”

“You mean like with magic?” He’d said that was the reason he’d picked me after all. But I guess there was more to it than what I was thinking before. But maybe I hadn’t thought deeply of it at all. When Fox had said that, everything felt too abstract. All I was doing was remembering things and noticing things. They weren’t exactly note-worthy feats.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Now, I was in the middle of something else. Fox nodded, “Yeah, magic. I think what you sensed was coming from the…”

He trailed off, looking as though he realized something important. His eyebrows furrowed and I leaned forward, “From what? Is it that bad? Should I be concerned?”

I already was, “Well. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you. That would be interference. And after what happened last time, you did tell me not to stick my neck out there.”

There was a joke to it, but underneath I sensed he was being serious. He actually couldn’t tell me about this, and he’d already broken the rules once before. I groaned, “I don’t want to experience that again. I feel like everything around me was wrong.”

“I know. It isn’t a pleasant experience.”

“Is that…is that what you feel sometimes? When you use magic?” Was that too personal? It had slipped out the minute I’d thought of it. That strange headspace I’d been in almost seemed like it could be reminiscent of the kind that Fox went through prior.

He nodded, “Something like that. Sometimes being sensitive to magic has severe drawbacks. Since you haven’t really spent that much time around it, it hasn’t had an effect on you so you haven’t noticed.”

“But that doesn’t explain what was causing it…” I knew Fox wasn’t allowed to tell me. I was more talking out loud. The feeling had hit suddenly and it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. No. That wasn’t quite right. I had experienced something like this before.

There had been days where everything felt wrong for reasons I couldn’t place. It wasn’t as heavy as yesterday night, but it’d had an effect on me. I wasn’t sure what magic felt like, so I didn’t know if those strange days were related. And if it had been, that made the source of said magic even more confusing.

“We can talk more after class.” He patted my shoulder. “I think right now it’s more important for you to concentrate on your test than your newfound magic sensitivities.”

Just as Fox said it, the bell rang, signaling the start of hell. The tests were handed out, and when I passed it back to Fox, he mouthed a ‘good luck.’ If there was any reason I was passing this, it was because he’d single handedly carried me through this class thus far.

To my surprise, I was capable of doing some of it. I still wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing, but there were concepts I remembered, if only because Fox had circled these types of questions a million times when we were working together.

I barely finished on time, and when I looked around I was the second to last to finish, but I did it. My brain was numb and nothing looked quite right at the end, but I did it. I was almost triumphant as I placed the test on his desk, not because I was certain I’d passed but because I hadn’t felt like I was looking at a completely foreign language. When I walked back, I saw Fox folding paper again. Alarm rang through my chest because of last time, but there was no magic dripping off of him. He was just messing around making paper frogs.

“You should teach me how to make these.” I picked one up as class came to an end a couple minutes later. His finger pressed down on one of the ones on his desk and it shot up and fell right into my lap. I picked it up and tossed it back to him.

“They’re pretty easy.” He mopped them into his bag with his arm. “You can make one in like a minute.”

“Then show me.” I pocketed the one in my hand, and Fox didn’t say anything. I still had the sword on my desk. I’d set it down and hadn’t touched it since.

The two of us walked out into the halls, the first time he’d done so in a while. As we converged with the traffic, he said, “We should swing by the library—no, no one is there this time.”

He raised his hands to fend off the frown I’d shot him, “Are you sure I’m not about to run into yet another private conversation and find myself being rude and listening in on strangers?”

“They’re not quite strangers anymore, right?” He jokingly winked—badly—and I had to force myself not to smile at how dumb it looked.

“Don’t ever do that again.” I collected everything I needed with my locker, texted Abigail to go ahead without me, and walked with Fox to the library. He sat down at a table in the back, the one me, Nia, and Abigail normally sat in during lunch. I peered through the window, watching the wave of students leave through the gates. It was like I could see the whole world from up here.

He rested his elbows on the table, and his face in his hands, “Alright so you said everything went…blue, correct?”

“I don’t think it actually went blue, it just felt like…the world shifted into it in my mind. Like, a washed out slate blue, not bright blue.” Not the color of Fox’s magic. The brightness of it almost hurt my eyes the few times I’d seen, almost boarding on white and emitting an intensity I couldn’t describe.

“Right. Because you felt the emotions behind the magic, and the emotion was ‘slate blue.’ Hold on, let me explain.” He grinned as I furrowed my eyebrows. “As I’ve said about other things I’ll say this now; you may not understand everything I’m going to say. That’s fine. In this case, you’ll understand it more with experience.”

“…So I’ll definitely experience it again?”

“Likely. Now let me see how to explain this. As I mentioned before, this world is just being born. That means all the rules are not quite in place, and that’s especially true for magic. There are no rules or laws when it comes to it. Not yet, at least. Unfiltered magic can lead to severe consequences, with overuse leading even to death.” I tensed, my brain immediately bending towards Fox.

“You—”

“I know better than to get myself killed, don’t worry.” He waved the question away before I could ask it. “Even though there are no strict rules in place yet, there is a basis for magic. Emotions and desires respectively. How magic takes shape is different based on where a person is pulling from. The magic you felt was clearly based on emotions and it was so strong, you could see it spilling into the air around you.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I was writing everything down. I hadn’t been able to get all the details Fox had told me about all the other strange things in the beginning, but I had the chance to note it down now. “What would magic based on desire be like, then?”

“It’s what I do.” He held out his palm, and a bright blue ring hovered above his hand. “It’s very rare when magic based purely on emotion takes shape. A lot of the time, people aren’t even aware they’re emitting it. It isn’t a big deal in small amounts. But sometimes people can overflow, and it’ll affect others.”

He closed his hand and the ring evaporated. I noted that this time his eyes hadn’t gotten their bright blue sheen. When he noticed me looking, he reached out and lightly flicked my noise. I yelped in surprise, and jerked back, “H-hey!”

“Few people in this world have magic. I’m surprised that…”

“It’s one of them isn’t it? It’s…Kade, isn’t it?” I still don’t understand why he overflowed the way he did. All the times I’d turned the conversation and events over and over in my head and none of it made sense.

Fox was reading my mind, “It’s possible it wasn’t anything major. Even a pebble can crumble a wall if it’s damaged enough. While I don’t know who it belongs to, I am surprised your first story has someone with magic.”

“But I was allowed to choose myself.”

“Yes, but despite that Headmaster Gnight makes sure to keep the more dangerous stories away from people, at least at first. It’s very odd.” I hadn’t felt like I’d been in danger at any point. In danger of dying of embarrassment, maybe. But that was a typical Tuesday for me. No, if anything, the magic I’d felt was just a wall of sadness. If the other strange things I’d tuned in on were also related, then it explained the strange melancholy.

“If I can sense magic so well, can’t I use it?” A shot in the dark.

The way he smiled confirmed I’d asked the exact stupid thing he’d been waiting for, “Sensing magic and using magic are two different things. People that can use magic can always sense it, but it isn’t always the other way around. Were you hoping you could start playing tricks like I can?”

“Not really?” If there were risks involved, I didn’t want to touch it. I could already imagine all the ways it’d bring me harm without having to think hard on it. “I just thought I should know, just in case.”

“For you, it’s more like you can use it as a warning. Your own personal alarm.” He had the fascination in his eyes again. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to take it.

“Have there not been a lot of other people the Headmaster has chosen that has been able to do similar things?”

“None.” My eyes widened as his grin did. “It’s believed those who contain magic or those that are more sensitive to magic can acquire what they want a lot more easily than the average person. But that’s an unfair assumption, isn’t it? The drawbacks can be just as prevalent as the benefits. For you specifically, this ability hasn’t even been noted. I wonder why, though…”

I glanced away, noting that the crowd outside had finally trickled down to only a cluster of small groups. Kids still hanging around and loitering before they headed back home or did whatever else their lives entailed. Without thinking, I looked for Wells and Kade, knowing they wouldn’t be there.

The more I learned, the less I knew, “Even though you say that, I feel the same as I always have.”

“Magic doesn’t change anything about you. It’s simply something you can sense. You’re just you.” He pushed himself back up into a sitting position, leaning over to grab his bag. “Let’s get you a snack before you start to spiral into your doom and gloom again.”

“I wasn’t about to!”

“Right. Should we save it for when you get your test score back?”

It was a shot through the heart, “I-I tried my best! I can ace any other subject, I hope you know. English, psychics, history, anything. Math is just…not were my skills lie.”

“Hmm.” I stood as he did, feeling the need to protest but knowing I wasn’t about to win. When my score came back and I had passed, maybe I’d have a leg to stand on. For now, I followed him out, trying not to let my mind wander in the state Fox was expecting.

//

“Their sherbet is so good.” We were back at the smoothie and ice cream shop Fox had showed me prior. It was a reminder I still needed to bring my friends here. Fox had elected for only a drink, but I’d been craving something sweet. Despite his offer, I refused to let him pay for me again. He’d been the one who’d said the last time really was the last time. “I’m surprised you go to this kind of place.”

“Why? Isn’t good food good food?”

“It’s so…” I hadn’t met any boys that went to cute looking shops like this on their own. Maybe he didn’t go on his own, and the only time he came here was when he needed to offer someone comfort. It was a decent distraction, considering how good it was.

“Cute things are fine with me.” I flushed, feeling the heat spool into my ears. One day he’d cease to find ways to amuse himself by teasing me.

“That isn’t what I meant.” It was.

“Sure.” He didn’t challenge it, but because he knew it was a lie. “At least this time, we can enjoy ourselves without Fable jump scaring us.”

“Oh yeah, he was looking for you when you disappeared last week. He called me out to ask me where you were. I didn’t expect him to do that when I was with Abigail and Nia.” Or at all.

He rolled his eyes, “He’s always trying to keep tabs on me. He should have known I go out of commission from time to time. He can handle things on his own.”

“I…lied to him. About the magic.”

“Why?” There was only curiosity in his tone.

I honestly didn’t know, “I thought you would get in trouble. Besides, I don’t like Fable anyway. I…I yelled at him. And stormed off. It felt good in the moment but I’m scared he’ll do something to me now…”

“You yelled at him?” Fox choked on a laugh. “I don’t doubt he deserved it. I would have paid to see his face.”

“…He didn’t really react.”

“I’m sure he was more thrown off than he was leading on. He’s a lot easier than you think.” With a loud slurp on the remnants of his smoothie, he leaned back looking oddly satisfied.

I tapped my fingers against the table, “Now that I’m remembering that…He won’t do anything…right?”

“The Headmaster would hate him for it. He wouldn’t dare.”

“This might be random but is Fable the Headmaster’s son…?” Fable really just looked like a mini version of the man. But so many people looked a like to me, especially when I didn’t know them.

Fox nodded, “They look the same, but they don’t really act the same. I wonder where he got his awful personality from.”

“I’m just glad you’re the one I got a class with and not him.” I couldn’t imagine a class with Fable. Dealing with someone a little weird was completely fine when compared to someone who hated my guts. I already had to deal with that coming from Jen. With Fable sitting right behind me I would have failed pre-calc solely because I wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

“He’s older, so that helps.”

It wasn’t surprising, but I hadn’t ever considered it, “Does he…look down on me like I’m a kid…?”

“I’m sure he could come up with a list of reasons for why he looks down at you.” I flinched at how easily he said it. “Mine would probably be just as long.”

He made it sound so easy. I had the last bite of my sherbet, before I let the spoon clatter into the paper bowl, “Then we’ll just…ignore him. Ah, well, that’s easier for me to do than you but…”

“No, no. I pretty much ignore him already. If anything, it may be harder for you as time goes on. Especially since…”

“You’re not…very good at not talking about the ‘story’ are you?”

“Oops?” He didn’t look concerned at all about it. I started to wonder if the punishment for messing up would even be that bad with how careless he was about it. “It’s habit to discuss these things. I’ve never interacted with one of Headmaster Gnight’s chosen main characters before. I did a lot more background work. This is the first time I’ve had to try for subtly.”

“You were pretty off-putting when we first met, too.”

“Ha, sorry about that. It’s just that I was hoping it would be you. I was so in my head I didn’t realize how it would come across until after. I really didn’t mean to scare you. When I was told I was allowed to have input, I just jumped on it. I should have thought how it would have felt in your position.”

“I didn’t mind it? I mean I did, but I’m not sure how that could have been easier on me. It was all so unbelievable. It still is to some degree, although I’ve started to process it.” It made me think that maybe the reason why Fox had been so eager to help me was guilt. He’d been the one to choose me, and maybe he hadn’t realized any consequence of it. It was a ‘happy ending.’ How could that cause distress for anyone?

I was also surprised to hear that he hadn’t ever done this before. I had figured both him and Fable had, considering how close they were to the Headmaster. If that was the case, then it made sense for Fable to be there. He was the Headmaster’s son. But then what about Fox? I once more was reminded I knew nothing about the boy in front of me. He hadn’t even cared to confirm whether he liked comics or not when I’d asked. The only things I knew was he was in my grade, he knew magic, and there was a high chance he read comics, confirmation or not.

“Are you ok? You seem distracted?” Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who had to process a million things all at once.

“I’ve been distracted a lot these days. I’m trying not to let it get to me, though. I want to avoid everyone teasing me about it.” There had been a lot of that.

“Well, then stop thinking about it. Let’s see…are you excited for the audition results to be posted tomorrow? It was fun seeing you on stage—”

“You were there—?” My voice squeaked in surprise. The look on his face told me enough. I was going to leave. The heat in my face was more than I had ever expected.

“I was hidden, obviously. But I couldn’t help but peek in. I wasn’t expecting you to actual do it.”

“…I feel oddly betrayed by that fact.”

“Sorry, sorry. Congrats on doing it, though.”

“As long as you don’t watch the play because I’m in it, it’s fine.” He only smiled, and I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking as he did so. I guessed he’d seen my interactions with everyone as well. He hadn’t pushed about Wells or Kade as much as I thought he would, content to just play observer.

Outside, it was starting to get dark. We were rolling into October, and the days were shortening minute by minute for each day that passed. I knew it was time to get home, but this place had started to feel like another world. I hated to admit it, but I liked it here with Fox and the distant whorl of machinery in the distance. This was a place I needed. A place to breathe.